Nike Employee Grant Fund

The Nike Employee Grant Fund was established in 2010 to benefit communities where Nike employees live, work and play. Through this fund, Nike employees work with OCF to award at least $550,000 per year to nonprofits and schools in the Metropolitan Portland region and in Southwest Washington.

Funding Priorities

The NEGF takes an innovative approach to grantmaking, empowering a team of 10 to 12 Nike employees to serve on a committee that reviews funding proposals and develops recommendations. Grants are one-year awards totaling between $5,000 and $20,000 each, with the following focus:

80 percent of grant awards support organizations and projects that are creating a world where physical activity, play and sports are highly valued (about 40 grants per year).

20 percent of grant awards support organizations and projects that address community challenges through innovative community-based solutions (about 10 grants per year).

In 2013, 50% of sport-related applications received funding, but only one of 12 non-sport applications received funding (about 8%). To improve your competitiveness, please review the program guidelines and FAQs.

Eligibility

General Requirements

Geographic Restrictions

Projects must primarily serve individuals in the target NEGF counties: Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill and Columbia counties in Oregon, plus Clark County in Washington. No exceptions.

Tax-Exempt Status

You can apply for a grant without federal tax-exempt status, either as a 501(c)(3) public charity, an IRC 787 Federally-recognized Indian Tribe, or a government entity, but you must have a fiscal sponsor who does have appropriate tax-exempt status. If you are expecting to be granted nonprofit status soon and do not have a fiscal sponsor, you are not eligible to apply.

Schools

Schools in the targeted geographic region are encouraged to apply for grants. Projects that support lower income school communities (with 39% or more of students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch) are eligible.

Frequency of Application

You may apply for one grant per NEGF funding cycle.

You may receive only one grant per year from NEGF.

If declined, you may resubmit the same project to NEGF only if key project components have been strengthened.

If you receive an NEGF award, you may not seek NEGF funding for the same project for three years. Example: if you received an NEGF award spring 2013, you may not seek funding for the same project until spring 2016.

Applying to NEGF does not preclude you from applying to other OCF grant programs. Example: Community Grants Program.

Not Eligible for Funding

Capital projects that involve property acquisition or building renovation, unless Nike’s award would constitute the final funding needed to close the gap

One-time or annual events, unless the focus of the project is on program(s) leading up to a culminating event

Step 3: Is the application window open? (Oct. 15 to Dec. 1 & April 15 to June 1).

Step 4: Apply on our online application system. You will be asked to register first — by entering your name, contact information, etc. — but you will not be required to immediately enter grant information. Once you start your grant application, you may finish it over the course of several weeks as long as it is completed by the deadline (in other words, you are not required to finish the application in one sitting).

Applicants may wish to review the Nike grant application questions before completing the online application. We suggest that you prepare answers to your questions in a word processor and paste them into the online application system.

Grantee Reporting

Post-grant reports are due 12 months after a grant is awarded. They are submitted electronically by visiting the same online grants system used for the original grant application. Please review our grantee reporting instructions and questions before completing and submitting your report.

Please note: If you are submitting a grant application for the cycle that ends a year after your grant award, you will need to enter preliminary information into your online grant evaluation report when you submit your new application.

Staff Assistance

If you have any questions after reviewing the information available on this page, please contact: